


Nothing is that Simple

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angst, Character Death, Hurt, M/M, Mythology - Freeform, Orpheus and Eurydice Myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 18:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15891372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Akaashi travels to the Underworld to save his husband.





	Nothing is that Simple

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Stacysmash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacysmash/gifts).



  
  


Akaashi stumbled to a halt at the two beings that he had spent what seemed like an eternity seeking out.  His heart throbbed painfully in his chest because he knew this was his final chance. He had been blessed by the gods to be allowed to travel through the Underworld as a mortal, Bokuto had seen him mourning the loss of his husband and had offered to help him.  But Bokuto’s power reigned over the sky and the Underworld belonged to a very different sort of god.

 

Akaashi had left Matsukawa’s body with Bokuto and the nymph Hanamaki, who had seen Matsukawa be bitten by the snake that hid amongst the tall grass.  Akaashi and Matsukawa had made the trek out to Hanamaki many times without fail. The nymphs with their mischievous behavior and odd sense of humor had always accepted Matsukawa into their midst while Akaashi gathered herbs to restock their storage.

 

The sun had been high in the sky and Matsukawa had stretched his arm out, refusing to let go of Akaashi until it was absolutely necessary.  Akaashi still remembered the curl of Matsukawa’s lips, he was never a very emotive man but Akaashi had known him for years. There had been love in his eyes and amusement on his mouth, already excited for Akaashi to return so he could retell all the raunchy jokes the nymphs had recited to him.

 

Akaashi had been walking back after his sack was full of herbs and berries that he knew Matsukawa would be happy to see.  Matsukawa had been sitting on a large boulder, Hanamaki next to him as they two leaned against each other and spoke in soft tones.  Akaashi had felt his lips pull up into a smile automatically at the sight and as if Matsukawa could sense Akaashi’s attention, he had turned and hopped off the boulder to meet Akaashi half way.

 

Then Matsukawa had jumped back as he looked down, Hanamaki had shouted, and everything seemed to go very slow in Akaashi’s mind.  The world dimmed as it took half a life time to run to Matsukawa, to see the snake slither off and disappear. Matsukawa was convulsing on the ground, Hanamaki was trying to hold him still and Akaashi’s fingers did not work right as he tried to see the puncture wound on Matsukawa’s leg.

 

Akaashi had shouted at Matsukawa to hold on, ordered him to stay with them but Hanamaki was already sobbing and Matsukawa’s beautiful eyes were blank and unseeing.  Akaashi couldn’t understand. Matsukawa couldn’t be gone, not like that. Not without a fight, not when Akaashi was nearby and he could have done something.

 

Akaashi didn’t remember if he had called out for Bokuto or if the god had been nearby watching as he usually did, but Bokuto was beside him and wrapping an arm around Akaashi.  Akaashi pleaded, promised anything he had for Bokuto to bring Matsukawa back but even gods had limitations.

 

“I hold no power over the dead.”  Bokuto had said and Akaashi had sobbed into Matsukawa’s unmoving chest.  “But I know who does.” Bokuto then pulled Akaashi up and away from Matsukawa, Akaashi tried to fight against the hold but Bokuto was a god and a mortal was no match for his strength.  “Will you do anything to get him back?”

 

“Yes.”  Akaashi answered instantly, there was no question in his mind of what he would do to bring Matsukawa back.

 

“Even if it means travelling to the Underworld and facing untold perils to which you might fall to?”  Bokuto asked and Akaashi looked directly into the golden eyes of a god.

 

“Yes.”  Bokuto’s smile was blinding and he pulled Akaashi to him, pressing his lips against Akaashi’s.  Akaashi would have fought the unwanted contact but something _burned_ through him like liquid fire.  He couldn’t even scream as Bokuto held him still.

 

“There.”  Bokuto said with satisfaction, grinning as Akaashi stumbled back and looked down at his own body which was dimly glowing gold, like a gods.  “That won’t last for long and it won’t give you super strength or anything like that so you’ll have to rely on your wits to make it through the Underworld.”

 

“I’m supposed to ask the god of the Underworld to give me Matsukawa back?”  Akaashi asked, his throat sore from whatever Bokuto had done to him.

 

“It’s his husband that you have to worry about.”  Bokuto put his hands on Akaashi’s shoulders. “But I have faith in you.”  He gave Akaashi a shove and Akaashi fell down, down, down into a black pit of nothingness.  Konoha had warned Akaashi about dealing with the gods, that they didn’t think and feel as mortals did but Bokuto had helped introduce Akaashi to Matsukawa so he had always had a place in his heart for the old god.

 

Akaashi had traveled through the wandering souls and befriended the beast who guards the gates.  He had stared into the twisting depths of the river styx and guarded his sanity as he walked through the ever screaming fields of tortured spirits.  He had trekked farther than any other mortal just for the mere chance to save Matsukawa. Now he felt cold fear grip him tight as he stared at the one god who could help him or crush him.  Gods were a fickle bunch, prone to sweeping grand gestures without worrying about the day-to-day things.

 

Akaashi knew very little about the god of the Underworld except what was told in songs and poems.  Matsukawa had preferred those tales for reasons unknown to Akaashi but seeing the god now, he could understand.

 

The god of the Underworld wasn’t very tall, especially compared to his husband who was leaning over him.  He was dressed in all black with a long robe that seemed to shift like the dark sea, faces of the damn pressed against the moving fabric before being swallowed back up.  A long carved scimitar stood upright next to him without anyone touching it, looking as if it was made of obsidian and so dark was absorbing the light around it instead of reflecting it off the polished surface. Though he was probably shorter than even Akaashi he was broad, the mantle across his shoulders emphasizing the hard muscles there.  There was a strength in his face, in the squareness of his jaw and the width of his mouth that was curling up at one corner.  There was no natural light in the Underworld but his skin looked as if was kissed by the sun regularly.

 

Standing close to the god of the Underworld was his husband.  From the stories Akaashi had heard he expected someone quite different.  Someone frail and delicate, but beautiful enough to catch the eye of one of the most powerful gods.  He had been tricked and forced to remain in the Underworld half of the year after all. Akaashi expected him to look forlorn and unhappy.

 

Instead the god of harvest looked like he was teasing the god of the Underworld.  Using his considerable height to loom over the shorter god, which Akaashi found fairly interesting considering they were gods and their mortal-like forms were something they could easily control.  The god of harvests hair was black as the scimitar that hovered near them but there was a beautiful flower crown woven through the thick strands. He was lean with muscle, nothing delicate or fragile about him.  He was several shades paler than the god of the Underworld, but he didn't look sickly.  He looked at the peak of health and able to hold his own against anyone, even one of the Big Three of the gods.  He also looked the complete opposite of unhappy, he looked as if he was quite enjoying himself.

 

“Kuroo, enough.”  The god of the Underworld nudged his husband away before turning to look exactly where Akaashi thought he was hidden.  “It seems our intruder has finally managed to find his way to us.”

 

“Oh?”  Akaashi did not like the look of the god of Harvest, Kuroo and he remembered Bokuto’s words to be more wary of him than the god of the Underworld.  With that in mind Akaashi stepped out of his hiding spot and immediately bowed before the gods.

 

“My apologies for sneaking in.”  Akaashi said, his voice rough from wandering for so long without food or water.

 

“Not very sorry if you did it purposefully, no one just stumbles upon the kingdom in the Underworld.”  Kuroo said as he stepped behind his husband before leaning down to wrap his arms around the god of the Underworlds shoulders, smirking at Akaashi above his husbands head.

 

Akaashi had felt pity for the god of harvest when he heard the old stories of how he was tricked into not only marrying the god of the Underworld but having to spend half the year in the Underworld with him.  Now Akaashi was thinking if maybe that wasn’t exactly what Kuroo had wanted in the first place.  There were many horrors held in the Underworld, Akaashi had bared witness to more than he cared to think about.  Yet there was an undeniable beauty about it, the castle he stood in looked to be made of the same obsidian the scimitar was made out of but twisting all around was life.  Deep shades of green with lovely pops of color spread around them.  Even the black throne made out of human bones was teeming with life.

 

“Especially someone who holds the blessing of a god.”  The god of the Underworld, Sawamura, stated plainly. He tapped Kuroo’s arms, who let go and turned to walk to the throne made of bones and plants.  He sprawled across the throne, looking wholly indecent as he did so.  Amber colored eyes trapped Akaashi, the eyes of a god were always difficult to look into but more impossible to look away from once ensnared.  Kuroo's smirk was a wicked thing before he looked away, releasing Akaashi to give a much softer look at his husbands back.

 

Suddenly the god of the Underworld was in front of Akaashi, who found himself standing before he realized what was happening.  Akaashi’s heart pounded as he looked into eyes that shifted black to dark brown. He had never been able to look into Bokuto’s ancient eyes for too long and he found the same for Sawamura.

 

“I have come to ask a favor.”  Akaashi said softly. Sawamura looked almost plain for a god.  There was nothing flashy like Bokuto was prone to be. Nothing salacious like Kuroo was.  He looked sturdy, dependable.

 

“And why should I grant you a favor?”  Sawamura asked. There was no anger in his tone but Akaashi knew how quickly gods could turn against someone.  Akaashi looked over at Kuroo, who was growing more ivy through the throne. There were touches of the god of harvest all around them, signs of life that shouldn’t exist in the Underworld.  But most important, Akaashi had seen the look Sawamura had given Kuroo when the taller god had been teasing him. There was irritation, yes but mostly it was a deep fondness, an unconditional love.

 

Akaashi hadn’t expected to see that between gods, who were as fickle with romance as they were with everything else.  Even Bokuto bounced around from one person to the next, spouting words of love and promises of a future together. But he never stayed and it was just another story to be told with a lyre around a fire.  Akaashi had expected all gods to be the same, he didn't expect any of them to understand the deep, unquestioning love he held for his own husband.  He especially hadn't though to find a like minded one in the form of the god of the Underworld, who was supposed to have tricked and blackmailed his way into a marriage.

 

“Would you not do anything within your power to bring your love back to you?”  Akaashi asked. He had always found in strange that it was only half the year that Kuroo spent in the Underworld but now he knew.  Sawamura would never force Kuroo to remain away from his family, from the gods and goddesses he had grown up with and loved. Perhaps Sawamura was the only god who could understand what Akaashi felt.

 

Sawamura tilted his head, considering before he turned back to Kuroo who grinned at the both of them, vines and flowers turning towards him as if he was the sun itself.

 

“Give him a test, my love.”  Kuroo stood up gracefully, prowling over to him before draping himself once more over Sawamura.  Akaashi would not get so close to the cloak of suffering souls but then again, he was just a mere mortal.  “If he passes it not even the other gods could naresay you.”

 

“A test.”  Sawamura mulled that over before nodding, dark and unfathomable eyes meeting Akaashi’s once again.  “You may take the soul of your husband out of the Underworld if you lead him out, but you can not look back.”  Akaashi blinked in surprise at that, expecting them to say more but they both stared at him.

 

“Yes, I agree!”  Akaashi rushed out quickly.  Kuroo’s smirk worried Akaashi but he didn’t have time to think it through properly about it as the scene suddenly changed.

 

“Follow this road and it will take you to the mortal realm.”  Sawamura pointed to the road before cupping Akaashi’s face and pointing it forward.  “Don’t look back.” Akaashi nodded and said a soft word of gratitude before pushing forward.

 

“He thinks it is going to be easy.”  Kuroo’s voice came from behind Akaashi and he forced himself not to look back at them.

 

“Nothing is ever easy for mortals.”  Sawamura’s deep tone was almost mournful.

 

Akaashi kept walking.  The Underworld seemed endless and he knew he had only seen a small portion of it.  He passed by lakes filled with shifting lava, creatures that poked their heads out to look at him before diving back in.  He walked through the fields of the wandering souls that were forced to spend eternity without voices or purpose. There was a long and winding desert with shifting sand that revealed fallen cities and decimated bodies before being swallowed once more up by the sand.

 

Akaashi walked but his brain couldn’t stop worrying that perhaps Matsukawa wasn’t behind him.  He couldn’t hear any footsteps, he didn’t sense his husband at all. He tried to reach his hand out, expecting Matsukawa’s long fingers to slide easily and familiar between his own but nothing happened.  Still Akaashi continued on.

 

Akaashi tried to distract himself with different thoughts.  He would make Matsukawa’s favorite meal when they finally got out of here.  Perhaps he would even become one of the songs that Matsukawa liked to hear so much.  He had to fix the roof before winter, though Akaashi didn’t even know how long he had been down in the Underworld.

 

What if he came out and many years had passed?  What if Matsukawa returned to a body that was rotten and decomposed?

 

That was if Matsukawa was even behind him.  Would the gods lie? The answer came easily, yes they would because that would amuse them.

 

Akaashi stumbled and fell to his knees.  For the first time he felt the edge of exhaustion and hunger, he was so thirsty.  He looked down at his hands to see the glow fading.

 

Could he die down here?  Would his body die and his soul be forever wandering?  Leading Matsukawa down a road that never ended?

 

It felt like it had been an eternity since Akaashi had last seen Matsukawa’s face.  The thick eyebrows above dark eyes, his nose was crooked but his jaw was strong. He was taller than Akaashi, fairly muscular from the hard labor he performed daily.

 

What color were Matsukawa’s eyes?  How did his hand feel in Akaashi’s?  What was the pet name Matsukawa called him when they were being particularly loving?

 

Akaashi realized he hadn’t gotten off the ground yet.  He pushed himself up, stumbled forward and realized he was crying.  He tried calling out to Matsukawa. He knew his husband wouldn’t just leave him like that, if Matsukawa was actually behind him than he would say or do something.  Why hadn’t he taken Akaashi’s hand? Why hadn’t he said anything?

 

Akaashi had to look, he had to know if his Matsukawa was behind him or not.  If he wasn’t then he would walk right back to the god of the Underworld and do anything he had to to be with Matsukawa once again.

 

Akaashi stopped walking and turned around to see a dark shadow turn into dust and be lost in the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> Stacysmash on tumblr requested Mythology+Matsukawa/Akaashi and I choose Orpheus and Eurydice! Which does not have a happy ending so sorry about that, but hopefully you like it anyways!


End file.
